Page 1332 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

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Raw Combat, a promotion based out of Calgary, Alberta, has announced that PRIDE and K-1 star Denis Kang will headline their upcoming event titled “Redemption” in a middleweight affair with UFC veteran Marvin Eastman.
Kang, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 30-10-1. Kang holds victories over Akihiro Gono, Amar Suloev, Murilo Rua, and Mark Weir. Kang was last in action at Spirit MC 18: The Champion where he successfully defended his middleweight title against Jae Young Kim.
“We’re two athletic guys who like to get out there and swing. It’s going to be a very heated fight,” Kang explained in a press release. “There’s going to be a lot of desire by the both of us to win. I’m coming off a couple of losses and he is as well so we’re both going to be really hungry. Neither of us are going to take this fight lightly or take any shortcuts in training. That’s for sure.”
Eastman, a native of Las Vegas, Nevada, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 15-8-1. Eastman holds victories over Terry Martin, Rob Kimmons, Alan Belcher and Travis Wiuff. He last fought at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale losing to heavy handed Drew McFedries.

“I don’t know why I didn’t take him down more. That’s the one thing I have been thinking about over and over. I should have taken him down more like in the first round. That was the game plan. My weapon is ground and pound…I don’t follow what people say in the media, all I can say is I didn’t follow the game plan that we put together. Duff wants me to perform at the level he knows I’m capable of. I’m glad I have a trainer that won’t accept that performance and I respect him for speaking the truth. Duff didn’t do anything wrong.”

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information from the California State Athletic Commission for “Strikeforce at the Mansion 2” featuring Kazuo Misaki vs. Joe Riggs, which took place on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that promoters are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.
Although mixed martial arts fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that a promoter also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, fight of the night bonuses, etc.), are not included in the figures below.
In the listings below, "Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in the main event. "Preliminary Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the TV or Internet broadcast.
MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS
– Kazuo Misaki ($1,400/win bonus was undisclosed) def. Joe Riggs ($20,000)
MAIN CARD FIGHTERS
– Josh Thomson ($40,000/win bonus was $20,000) def. Ashe Bowman ($2,000)
– Terry Martin ($10,000) def. Cory Devela ($10,000)
– Mitsuhiro Ishida ($1,400/win bonus was undisclosed) def. Justin Wilcox ($5,000)
– Trevor Prangley ($40,000) def. Anthony Ruiz ($6,000)
PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTERS
– Luke Stewart ($8,000) def. Jesse Juarez ($2,000)
– Eric Lawson ($6,000/win bonus was $500) def. Kenneth Seagrist ($2,000)
– Brandon Magana ($2,000) def. Brandon Thatch ($2,000)
– Jesse Gillespie ($2,000/win bonus was $1,000) def. Dave Martin ($1,000)
STRIKEFORCE AT THE MANSION 2 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $159,300

All fighters competing in Tuesday's DREAM.6 event at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, have successfully made weight.
There's likely a typo in the article as it says Ronaldo Souza weighed in at 284.6 pounds, which would mean he'd have missed weight by nearly 100 pounds.

In this election year, “the base” is an often repeated phrase. In politics, a candidate’s core supporters form his base. The challenge faced by Senators McCain and Obama in the race for the Presidency is to maintain the support of their base while expanding their appeal to a broader constituency, namely the independents who will decide the election.
The “politics” of MMA are no different. MMA has found a solid base of its own in the form of the 18-34 male demographic that comprises the vast majority of the sport’s current niche following. That demographic has been the foundation of MMA’s growth over the last three years, but for the industry to continue to grow the sport’s appeal must expand further into the mainstream of American culture. The UFC and Affliction are both aggressively courting the crossover audience necessary to broaden the sport’s reach beyond 18-34 males, but the companies have identified decidedly different target audiences for expansion.

After defeating Ashe Bowman in a non-title fight this past weekend, Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson made it very clear who he wants to fight next.
“I am really looking forward to possibly fighting Joachim Hansen,” said Thomson.
Thomson went on to say that his next fight will definitely take place in 2008.
“November 21st is my next fight. I do know that I will be fighting at the HP Pavilion. I believe it will be a title defense.”
Once again, Thomson made it clear who he wants the title defense to be against.
“We are hoping for Joachim Hansen.”
A fight between Thomson and Hansen would certainly be an excellent match-up. Hansen is coming off a very impressive showing in the recent Dream lightweight tournament that included a win over Shinya Aoki and a loss to Eddie Alvarez in a potential fight of the year candidate. On the other hand, Thomson is on an eight fight winning streak dating back to March 2006.

The NAAFS made its return to the Hoop Sports Complex on Friday, Sept. 19 for Columbus Night of Pain 4 in Columbus, Ohio.
In the main event, UFC veteran Sean Salmon made a successful return to the sport after a 10-month layoff, to defeat Mitch Whitesel by TKO in round three to become the new NAAFS Pro Series Middleweight Champion. Immediately after the fight, Salmon thanked all of his fans and his opponent for the opportunity and now sets his sights on his next opponent.
In the co-main event, a new Pro Series Heavyweight Champion was crowned as Justin Black avenged an earlier loss, defeating current champion “Cujo” Joe McCall by Armbar in Round one. The new champion said after the fight that he would be open to a possible third battle between the top two fighters in the division.
Columbus native Thad Schlichter continued his winning ways with an impressive knockout victory def. Terry Davinney in the first round. Davinney entered the arena wearing a Michigan jersey, immediately making him the most hated man in the building. Schlichter took control early and remained so until picking up the win with an emphatic KO.

The current focus for EliteXC is the upcoming Oct. 4 show on CBS, which will pit top star Kimbo Slice against Ultimate Fighting Championship hall of famer Ken Shamrock. But the promotion is already working on its next major Showtime broadcast set for Nov. 8.
The promotion has set the date and confirmed it will be a Showtime broadcast, but at this time no location has been announced or secured for the show.
EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw did confirm a number of the competitors that will fight on the card including Joey Villasenor, Rafael Feijao, Brett Rogers, and Nick Diaz.
No opponents have been secured for any of the fighters, outside of Shaw stating that Diaz would not be fighting lightweight champion K.J. Noons, who was stripped of his belt by the promotion on Friday.
Speculation has Villasenor getting a rematch against Robbie Lawler, who he lost to while fighting in Pride a few years ago, and getting a shot at the EliteXC middleweight title for the second time in the process, although nothing has been confirmed at this time.
Shaw also disclosed that the Nov. 8 show will be the final EliteXC show for 2008 as they gear up for the new year.

Japan-MMA has the story:
-They requested an official doctors certificate and CT scan showing the injury.
-They requested Roger Gracie to come to Japan to be examined by WVR's doctor
On both these points Roger Gracie has failed to comply and WVR/Sengoku are considering penalties.
I've been critical of Roger in the past and thought maybe I was being too hard on the guy, but I have to say this looks really really weak. Travis Wiuff is not that dangerous -- unlike previous duckees Josh Barnett and Jeff Monson, he's a perfect step-ladder for Gracie at this early point in his career.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has not hidden its desire to expand its brand across the world. The UFC has yet to return to Japan and Brazil, countries that they haven’t been to in many years, but they have recently expanded into Canada, following a strong building process in Northern Ireland and England.

WILMINGTON, Mass. – Not much time was wasted before both the co-main event and the main event came to a halt on Friday night at World Championship Fighting’s WCF 4. The total time of each bout combined was a mere 31 seconds. Yet the fans in attendance still left the venue buzzing about the event without much turmoil.
It certainly wasn’t long after the bell that Ultimate Fighter Season 1 competitor Sam Hoger began his celebration. Both he and his opponent, Jason Dolloff came out eager to fight. Hoger managed to land a few kicks early on before they clinched. From there, he used some dirty boxing to land a heavy blow that dropped his opponent to his knees. He quickly spun around and gained back control where he hammered Doloff with several right hands until the referee called the bout. With the win, Hoger gained his first victory in nearly three years and started his path back to the big stage.
Dan Bonnell seems to have had the winning formula on his hands for some time now with yet another big win. This featherweight match-up had the makings to be fight of the night, but it appeared that Bonnell had different plans.
As both fighters circled, he threw a right hand that seemed to buckle Joe Cushman’s knees a bit, but they continued to feel each other out. Seconds later from the clinch, Bonnell displayed some effective dirty boxing of his own. A few punches rocked Cushman sending him to his knees. He immediately bounced back up, but Bonnell gained control of Cushman’s head again and continued to land clean shots. Cushman dropped to his back this time and Bonnell followed him, peppering him with punches before the referee stepped in. That was the fourth win in a row for Bonnell, who has continued to impress fans with solid victories.

"I'll retire next year, I already gave my all. I don't need to prove anything for anyone and within one year I'll put my gloves aside."
-- Anderson Silva talking to Brazilian cable channel SporTV.
It's hard to argue against Silva's accomplishments and boredom with the landscape, but how many mega fights at 205lbs might we be missing if Silva retires? And is this too soon given his age? Shocking developments to say the least.

Welterweight Marcus Davis lives in Bangor, Maine and lays his hat in Great Britain. Not exactly home in a traditional sense, Davis considers Britain to be the home of his most enthralling and adrenaline-fuelled moments. His defining nights. Britain acts as Davis’ fighting home.

After confirming exclusively to TATAME.com that he’ll do his next fight in EliteXC for the light-heavyweight title, Rafael “Feijão” Cavalcante said that his trainings now are focused in one opponent. “It looks like I’m going to face Cyrille Diabate, who fought with Shogun (Rua) in Pride. I think will be him, 90% chances”, said the athlete, that will face at November 8th card. With three fast knockouts on the event, Cavalcante keeps training with Anderson Silva to win the belt.

Preparing to embark on a stretch of three events in 15 days, EliteXC recently finalized their Sept. 26 ShoXC event from the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif.
In addition to five previously announced bouts that will air on Showtime, the organization added five more untelevised bouts to the card.
Scott Lighty (3-0) will take on Jamiah Williamson (3-0), Steve Gable (2-0) will meet Josh McDonald (3-3), Paul Arras (4-1) meets Mono Otero (3-2), Devin Howard (1-1) will face Luke Riddering (1-0), and fellow debutants Eric Franco (0-0) and Michael Gahan (0-0) will open the evening's action.
Lighty debuted professional in January for the Palace Fighting Championship. His three victories have been varied in nature, with a submission, TKO and decision all in his favor.

Only one competitor was issued a medical suspension following the Sept. 17 UFC Fight Night 15 event at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb.
It belongs to Joe Vedepo, who suffered a first-round knockout loss to Alessio Sakara in a preliminary bout.
The UFC newcomer was issued a 45-day suspension due to "heavy head blows," the Nebraska Athletic Commission told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Vedepo (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), an Iowa-based fighter who won the Midwest Cage Championship middleweight belt just prior to signing with the UFC, had clipped and staggered Sakara early in their bout. However, Sakara quickly recovered, avoided a takedown, and then connected on a head kick that set up the KO victory at 1:27 of the first round.

Following his July release from the UFC, former TUF 7 middleweight contestant Jesse Taylor will be returning to action on Oct. 2 during Total Combat 32 at the Syucan Casino just outside of San Diego.
Taylor’s opponent will be another former UFC veteran, Drew Fickett.
Taylor lost a chance to compete against Amir Sadollah in the finals of TUF 7 after he was dismissed from the show following an incident at a Las Vegas hotel and casino. He had earned the right to meet Sadollah after winning a semifinal fight against Tim Credeur and remained in Vegas after the show had wrapped filming to celebrate the win.